Arvo Pärt: Da pacem Domine

Work introduction

Arvo Pärt wrote the prayer of piece Da pacem Domine to fulfil a
commission from Jordi Savall. He began to set this ninth-century Gregorian
antiphon two days after the Madrid
bombings on 11 March 2004 as his personal tribute to the victims.

Since then Da pacem Domine has
been performed every year in Spain
to commemorate the victims of this terrorist attack. Even while originally
composing this four-voice piece, Pärt made allowances for variable scorings. As
a result, it exists in several versions, not only for voice but also entirely
for instruments.